Pantograph trolley



WILLIAM SCHAAKE, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, 'assienor. ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING coiv raivy, a co'a'roaarron or stares earner PENNSYLVAIQ'IA.

PANIOGRAPI-I TROLLEY.

Application; filed October 16,1918. Serial No. 258,432.

'tion of an eizte'nsible anr0gmp11 trolley frame, shall be interlocked therewith to pre-' vent accidental release by ljarringand other causes;

Another object. of invention to provide a trolley-latchingdevice that "shall require an initial operation, preparatory to release, for preventing the hasty or inadvertent engagement of the trolley with a trolley conductor.

Another object of my inventionis to pro-o vide means for preventing .a pantograph trolley from efiectingviolent engagement with a trolley conductor. v

A further object of my invention is to provide a trolley-latching device that shall be rugged and durable in construction and effective in operation, and that shall facilitate its manipulation from the cab of or other position on a vehicle On,Wl11Cll'1i may be mounted.

It is usual, in spring-extended pneumat1- cally-retracted pantograph trolleys, to provide latching devices to hold the same in retracted positions.

Heretofore, certain of these devices have comprised co-operating members having aninterrupted latching faces that, have permitted the release thereof by a single direct movement of one of the members, whereby the accidental release thereof by jarring or other causes has been possible. i

Further, after a pneumatically-retracted trolley hasremained in latched position for a sufiicient length of time to permit the air in the retracting cylinder to escape, release of the latch has permitted the trolley to engage the trolley conductor with considerable violence.

Specification of Letters Patent to latching devices for pantograph in Fig; 1; and Fig.

suitable means,

extended.

Patented Mar. as, were.

In practicing my lI1V6I1t1011,I provide a pantograph trolley latch that is readily operable from the cab of a locomotive, that ensuresagainst accidentalrelease and which, by requiring the admission of air to the retracting cylinder in orderthat it may be released, prevents the violent engagement of the trolley witha trolley conductor.

Figure I of the is a diagrammatic plan view ofan. electric r0 wasriiveiionsn accompanying drawings locomotive on whicl 'a pantograph trolley embodying myinvention is mounted; Fig,

2 is a side. view, partially in elevation and partially insection, of the apparatus shown 3 isan enlar ed detail view, partially in elevation and partially in section, of 'my improved form of latching device, as viewed ii -Fig. 2. p

A locomotive or other vehicle 11 supports, by means of brackets 2 orfother an I extensible pantograph frame 3 of usual construction, which, in turn, supports contac t members 4 for enpivotally gagement with a trolley conductor (not The frame 3 maybe moved to its pos tion and held. inithat position by springs 5 extending between stationary shown) ;brackets6 disposed on the locomotive 1 and arms Trigidlyrelated to, the frame 3, and may be retracted to the position shown in the drawings by co-operating links 8 and pistons 9 disposed in cylinders lOthat may receive a supply of air, from a reservoir 11 through an actuating valve 12 and a conduit 13. 'y

A member 14'E isattachecl to the upper'part of the frame 3 to be engaged by a bell-crank latching pawl 15 when the frame is in its retracted and inactive position. The pawl 15 is pivotally mounted upon a bracket 16 by means of a pin 17 and its shorter arm is. operatively connected to a piston 18 by a rod 19. cylinder 20 to be, operated by compressedair to withdraw the pawl from itslatching posi-- tion and is normally held-in its latching po'; sition by a spring 21. Air is supplied to thecylinder 20 from the reservoir 11 through an actuating valve 22 and a conduit 23.

.As more clearly shown in Fig; 3,.the member 14 is provided with a recess 24 to reflceivean overhanging orhook p0rtion 25 of the pawl 15. Being thus interlocked, adi- The piston 18 is fitted within a. i

rect withdrawal of the pawl 15 from the member la is prevented. 1

In order to effect release of the pawl .15 from the member 14, it is necessary to depress the latter sufliciently to permit the portion 25 to pass over the shoulder at the end of the recess 24. To depress the member 14, the actuating valve 12 may be operated to admit air to the retracting cylinders 10 after which, by actuation of the valve '22, air will be admitted to 'therylinder 20 to retractthe pawl 15.

The air which is admitted 'to the cylinders 10to depress the member 'l land thus release thepaw-l '15 serves-to oppose the force exerted by the springs 5 su'fiiciently to prevent violent engagement of the members twith the trolley conductor. 7 V

' A- lever 26 is pivoted, by a pin 27, to the pawl 15, and'ha's a portion '28 that engages the member 1a adjac'entth'e hook portion of the pawl and-is connected, by an insulating connecting member 29, a pivoted supporting-link 30, aflexible member 31, and apu'lley 32 to an operating handle 33' in the cab of the vehicle; By *actuati-ng'the handle .33

downwardly; the lever 26'will be rotatively.

moved clock'wise about the pin 27, whereby the portion 28 will first depress the member l4;. andv the pawl will then be withdrawn from its latching position.

While I have shown "anddescribed a particular form of'my invention, changes may 'be eifec'ted therein Without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, as set forth .in the appended "claims. Y

'I claim as myinvention:

'tion with an extensible pantograph frame biased inon'edirection, of means for holding the frame in a retracted position, said means comprising a latching member movable in a direction 'transversely ofthe path of movement ofthe frame and having 'a hook and a member on said-frame havinga shoulder adaptedto engage the said-hook, whereby the hook is preventedfrom moving to unlatched-position until after the frame has been further "retracted.

2; In a trolley, (the combination with a contact memberand a movable supporting member therefor "normally 'yieldingly maintai-nedfinnne position, of means for holding the supporting member againstadvancing toward said-position comprising a latching memberhaving a hook portion adapted to engage a shoulder on the supporting, mem-' ber, to prevent" release movement of 'the latching member until after the said sup portinginember hasbeen further retracted.

3. A trolley latching device comprising a movable latching member, a co-operating movable memberadapted to be restrained in a predetermined position by the latching member,isaid members being provided with 5. A trolley comprising a pantographv frame biased toward its expanded position, means for retracting the frame, latching means for retaining the frame in retracted position and interlocked therewith .to prevent accidental release, and manually operable means connected" to the latching means for further retracting the frame and" for moving the latching means out of engage ment therewith. 5

6;" A trolley-latching device comprising a pivoted latching member; and a movable member in engagement therewith, said inembers having interfi'tting fportions to prevent accidental movement of the latching member, and manually operable means asso V c1atedw1ths'a1d latching member for'initially moving said movable member to per- 'mit release ofth'e' same the latching mom 7 her. V 7'. In a trolley, the combination with 71a contact member, an extensible supporting I v 7 niemberf therefor and pneumatic means, 1. In apantograph trolley, the combinacomprising a cylinder and a piston, connected to "the supportingmember for retracting the same, of means serving to prevent the contact 'member from effecting violent means comprising a latching member inter,- locked with the supporting member in a retracted position ofthe latter to require further retraction of the supporting "member to effect a release of the latching member, the air admitted'to the cylinder to eliect said further retraction retarding the supporting member during its extension movement, I

"8. In a trolley, the combination with a contact member, an extensible supporting engagement with a trolley conductor, said member therefor, and means, comprising a cylinder and'a piston, connected'to the supporting member for retracting the same by fluid pressure, of means serving to prevent the contact member from effecting violent engagement with a trolley conductor, said means comprising a latching member interlockedknth said supporting member in a retracted position of the latter to require moving the supporting member to permit the release of the latching member, the change in the fluid pressure in said cylinder to effect said movement of said supporting member serving to retard the supporting member during its extension movement.

9. In a trolley, the combination with a contact member, an extensible carrying member therefor, resilient means for extending said carrying member and a cylinder having a piston connected to the carrying member and to said resilient means, of means ensuring a predetermined fluid pressure at one side of said piston to prevent violent engagement of the contact member with a trolley conductor, said means comprising a member engaging said carrying member to restrain it in a retracted position and normally releasable therefrom onlywhen a change occurs in the pressure at one side of said piston.

I 10. A trolley-latching device comprising a longitudinal member having a portion of hook-shape at one end and pivoted at its other end a movable member having a portion of hook-shape oppositely related to the hook portion of the longitudinal member and biased toward the same for interlockin engagement therewith, anda pivoted member having an arm projecting over the hook portion of said movable member to disengage the same from the hook portion of the longitudinal member, whereupon said longitudinal member and said movable member may be separated.

11. A trolley comprising a pantograph frame normally biased to one normally extreme position, means for retracting the frame to its other normally extreme position, and means for preventing movement of the frame to its first named position until after it has been retracted to a point beyond its second named position.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 80th day of Sept,

WILLIAM SOHAAKE. 

